First they came for the Minutemen, next they came for the Rebels. It appears that that Colonel Sanders-looking dude at Ole Miss is done. According to the Charlotte Observer:

Mississippi will sideline its Colonel Rebel mascot this football season, taking another step to distance itself from the South's Confederate past.

Ole Miss officials have said they want a more intimidating mascot than the Southern gentleman with his cocked wide-brimmed hat, snow-white goatee and cane.

...

In the last decade, Mississippi has been steering its image from the Old South by phasing out symbols that some say are racially divisive. Confederate battle flags, once pervasive at football games, have been banished and "Dixie" has been dropped as the school's unofficial fight song.

But unlike the Rebel Flag and "Dixie," there has been no outcry to oust Colonel Rebel.

Boone said changing Colonel Rebel has more to do with modernizing Ole Miss' image than vanquishing Confederate symbols from campus.

The private Ole Miss Loyalty Foundation that supports sports has spent $30,000 for the New York-based Phoenix Design Works to study Colonel Rebel, Ole Miss lettering and logos.

That last is the money quote. It's all about getting spiffy new duds for fans of a middling SEC football school to buy.

Still: Minutemen; Rebels; ??? If I was a fan of the "Dallas professional football club", I'd be worried. The Dallas Tuna? The marketing opportunities boggle the mind.